The Verkhovna Rada of
Ukraine has approved amendments to the Law of Ukraine "On Foreign Economic
Activities" (as to providing the Government with the right to apply
appropriate economic measures against the state-aggressor) № 898-VIII, which
enables the Cabinet of Ministers to introduce analogous restrictive measures
against the Russian Federation in case of imposing an embargo
on Ukrainian products by Russia.
This
bill has been supported by 291 MPs.
Presenting
the bill at Parliament, Prime Minister of Ukraine Arseniy Yatsenyuk said
that the Russian Federation for a long time "tried and keeps trying to
fight Ukraine down not only by using military, financial measures, but also by
economic pressure and economic impact": "The main goal of the Russian
Federation was to prevent a free trade area
between Ukraine and the European Union from coming into force."
He
recalled that during the current year the Ukrainian side had been holding
dozens of consultations in Brussels together with European partners and invited
relevant representatives of Russia to discuss the implementation of the
agreement on a free trade area, "I can clearly state that the Russia’s
purpose was not to resolve economic issues, but to impede the entry into force of the FTA agreement, as well as to deprive the Ukrainian
people of their right to receive a visa-free regime," emphasised Arseniy Yatsenyuk.
In
response to the continued consultations, the Prime Minister stressed,
"Russia, as expected, has introduced a trade embargo on Ukrainian
products, which will take effect from January 1 next year": "This is
not the first decision of the Russian Federation, but the ongoing pressure of
Russia on Ukraine over the last decade in order to disable the Ukrainian economy from developing and continue
pressure on Ukraine by all possible means."
"However,
the Ukrainian side gave and will give an appropriate response to these Russian
decisions," he stressed.
Arseniy Yatsenyuk reminded
that, in the last three years, Ukraine "reduced three times its dependence
on Russia": "If three years ago the volume of exports from Ukraine to
Russia amounted about 35%, today we have reduced dependence on the Russian
market three times, and it makes up only 12 %."
The
Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine appealed to the MPs of Ukraine to adopt
amendments to the law on foreign trade. The adoption of these changes will enable the Cabinet of Ministers of
Ukraine to introduce analogous restrictive measures against the Russian
Federation on January 1 next year.
"We
will be protecting Ukraine’s domestic market," pointed out Arseniy Yatsenyuk.
The Prime Minister of Ukraine
also underlined that Russia just announced its secession from a free trade zone, "Moreover, this statement is
illegal, it does not meet international treaties. Neither Kazakhstan, nor Belarus did make such a
statement. That is why Russia will get a response from the Ukrainian Government in the form of a trade
embargo and mirror sanctions against Russian products."
Arseniy Yatsenyuk recalled
that the Government of Ukraine had submitted to Parliament the law on sanctions and following its adoption Ukraine would
get a mechanism for application of sanctions for the first time in its history. Last September, the Cabinet of
Ministers approved a list of sectoral and individual sanctions against Russia. The decision of
the National Security and Defense Council and the decree of the President of Ukraine introduced sectoral and
individual sanctions against some Russian companies and individuals.
He also reminded that the
Government of Ukraine had filed several lawsuits to the European Court of Human Rights against the Russian Federation for
the illegal annexation of Crimea. The illegal annexation of Crimea was condemned by the
resolution of the United Nations.
State-owned companies also filed
lawsuits against the Russian Federation for causing damages. In particular, Naftogaz Ukrainy filed
two lawsuits to the Stockholm arbitration court – concerning the gas contract and the contract for the transit of
natural gas through Ukraine.
"We have actually said no to
Russian gas monopoly in Ukraine," stressed Arseniy Yatsenyuk.
"Ukraine closed its air
space for all the Russian airlines, Ukraine filed a lawsuit to the
WTO against the Russian Federation. Ukraine has also sued Russia
in the UN International Court for a breach of the Convention on the fight against terrorism. And
this is only a shred of what this Government has made in order to protect Ukraine," Arseniy Yatsenyuk highlighted.
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